Cultivator.



. s. L. ALLEN.

CULTIVATOR.

(Application filed Mar. 29, 1902.)

Patented act. '28, 1902..

(No Model.)

ATTORNEY:

THE uonms PETERS 00., PHOTD-LITHOY. WASHINGTON u.

UNITED v STATES! PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL LEEDS ALLEN, OF MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY.

CU LTIVATO R.

SPEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 712,232 dated October 28, 1902. Application filed March 29, 1902. Serial No. 100,558. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL LEEDS ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Moorestown, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cultivators, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in cultivators of the walking type, having handle-bars for the use of the operator in working the same.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a construction of cultivator having pivoted side bars and means for adjusting the same laterally to increase or diminish the width of the machine and in providing a simeffective brace-bar for bracing the center bar, side bars, and handle-bars together, thus imparting strength and rigidity to the machine, and, further, in providing an adjusting-bar for each side bar, which can be operated simply by the loosening of one bolt or nut and which when secured in its adjusted position will be rigidly braced to the center bar andhandle-bars of the machine.

I am aware that braces have been used heretofore for bracing the side-bare'spreading mechanisms to the handle-bars and that it is a common expedient to brace the handle-bars to the center bar-such, for instance, as shown in some of my former patents and in a number of others; but in most of these constructions the brace-bar which connects with the spreading mechanism would be subjected to great strains during the adjustment and require an adjustable connection with the handle-bars, thus necessitating the unloosening of two or more bolts before the adjustment could be effected.

In my prior patent, also in some other existing patents, the brace-bar is connected to the spreading mechanism, which, being movable, requires a compromise or harmony of motion between the brace and the expanding device, thus causing an imperfect result, because the parts working from opposite or different centers force the result and distort the tool.

In my present construction the brace is not attached to the expanding device; but it is of one piece with said arm, and ing device slides directly beneath the single tuting either bolted directly to an arm rigidly attached at substantially right angles to the middle bar by riveting or bolting or is made the expandpiece or between the two pieces described,

making a very firm connection without extra bolts. A further advantage of such a construction resides in the fact that one side can be adjusted independently of the other, as sometimes it is desirable to have one of the side bars opened wide and the other one partially closed. It will thus be seen that in my present construction I have provided a brace which is positively rigid, having a rigid connection to the center bar and a rigid connection with the adjusting-bar for the side arms, so that the machine is exceeding strong and firmly braced after the adjustment has been vmade.

elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail-view showing the brace in end elevation, and Fig.

4 is a similar view showing a slightly-modified construction of brace.

Referring to the said drawings, A designates the center bar of a cultivator, having the side bars B and C pivoted thereto through the medium of the clevis D, which is secured to said center bar at its forward end.

To the rear ends of the side bars B and C are pivoted the adjusting-bars E, each provided, preferably, with the longitudinal slots F, through which passes the bolt G, which is carried by the brace-barsH and I. An even stronger combination is obtained by substia series of holes in the expanding-bars in place of the slots; but this construction renders the adjustment more difficnlt. The bars H are preferably disposed transversely to the center bar A and arerigidly secured thereto by means of the bolt J. The bolt G passes through an aperture provided in the free end of the bar H andthrough the slot F in the adj usting-bar E and through a foot provided on the end of the inclined brace I and is held in position by means of a suitable nut, as K. The brace I is rigidly secured at its upper end to the handle-bar L, so that it is held positively rigid at all times. The han- ICC dle-bars L are secured at their forward ends to the center bar A in the usual manner and are provided at the upper ends with the connecting brace rod or round M of the usual form.

When it is desired to adjust the Width of.

the machine, all that is necessaryis to loosen up the nut K on bolt G and then move the side bars in or out, the bolt, which passes through the slot F in the bars E, serving to guide said bar, and when the end of the slot is reached the bar E can be swung around with the bolt G, acting as a pivot, and thus bring the side bars as close to the center bar as possible. WVhen the desired adjustment is efiected, the nut K is again tightened, thereby rigidly connecting the three bars E, H, and I and insuring a rigid connection with the handle-bars, thus rendering the machine perfectly rigid, strong, and durable during its working operation.

It will thus be seen that the brace Iis positively rigid against movement at all times, it being rigidly fastened at both ends, its lower end being secured against movement by reason of its connection with the rigid brace-bar H through the medium of the bolt G, so that during the adjusting operation the said bar I is relieved of strain and cannot be twisted or bent out of shape, and thus weakened, as is the case with most braces which have a connection with the sidebar-spreading mechanism.

Another advantage in a construction of this kind is its simplicity and consequent cheapness of cost to manufacture, also in the fact that it is necessary only to loosen one bolt viz., the bolt G-in order to eifect the adjustment of the Width of the machine.

In Fig. 4 of the drawingsI have shown the brace-bars II and I as integral, and the adjusting-bar E in this construction is secured to the under side of the section H and operates in substantially the same manner as heretofore described. The first described construction is slightly preferable, because the spreading-bar G is in that construction confined between the ends of the two braces H and I, as shown most clearly in Fig. 3, and thus further braced against any twisting movement to which the said bar might be subjected.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a cultivator, the combination with the center bar having pivoted side bars and handle-bars carried by the center bar, of a rigid brace extending from the center bar and connecting with the handle-bars, and an adjusting-bar connected to the side bars and to the rigid brace, for the purpose described.

2. In a cultivator, a central frame-bar, side bars pivotally secured thereto, handle-bars secured to the central bar, a rigid brace-arm secured to the central bar extending transversely thereto, a rigid brace-arm connecting with the transverse arm and rigidly secured at its upper end to the handle-bar, and a connection between the side bars and the rigid transverse arms, substantially as described.

3. In combination, a central bar, side bars pivoted thereto, handle-bars secured to the central bar, adjustable connections between the side bars and the central bar, rigid arms extending from each side of the central bar, and brace-bars rigidly secured at one end to the handle-bar and at its other end to rigid arms of the central bar, substantially as described.

4. In combination, a central bar, side bars pivoted thereto, handle-bars secured to the central bar, rigid arms extending from each side of the central bar, a spreading-bar adj ustably secured to one of the said rigid arms and pivotally connected at its other end to the side bars, and a rigid brace secured to the handle-bar and to the rigid transverse arm, said brace being positively secured against movement, for the purpose substantially as described.

5. The combination of a central bar, side bar pivoted to said central bar, handle-bars secured to the central bar, transversely-disposed arms rigidly secured to the central bar and extending under the handle-bars, rigid braces secured to the handle-bars at one end and to the transverse arms at their lower ends, spreading-bars pivoted at one end to the side bars, having their other ends clamped between the rigid brace and the rigid transverse arm, and a longitudinal slot provided in said spreading-bars adapted to receive the clamping-bolt which connects the two rigid brace-bars, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of March, A. D. 1902.

SAMUEL LEEDS ALLEN.

Witnesses:

THOMAS SOATTERGOOD, J. EDWARD KENT. 

